- 5,459
- 12,389
Hm. This one's actually pretty straightforward.
Introduction
So, currently, both Featherine's Study and the City of Books are rated at 1-B for being the highest showcased realms in the series, and likewise transcending the entire story of Umineko, with the latter in particular containing a whole bunch of books and stories that are much larger than Beatrice's Territory, and being a general repository for Voyager Witches to store kakera which they stumble upon in their travels across the Sea of Fragments, which often last for thousands of years and involve a continuous process of evolution throughout the Stairway to the Domain of the Gods.
But, as it turns, these two may be much higher in the hierarchy than previously thought. As has been already established, it's been implied a few times in the series that there is in fact a realm of existence in-between the World of the Witches and the Domain of the Creator, this being the plane of existence in which Featherine took residence after returning from the latter. This realm is also the level to which Beatrice internally evolved upon her ascension as a Witch, and Bernkastel states that she is still undergoing a process of ascension throughout this domain, and will eventually reach Featherine's level.
Given this scan, there is reason to believe that Featherine's Study actually exists in the higher domain where she resides, which does make sense: It's her house, after all, and as far as we are concerned, the Featherine that appears there is not a projection or a manifestation.
The City of Books, likewise, is shown to be in the same territory as Featherine's Study, and is described in very similar terms to it. Erika states the place is the territory of Witches who exist on a far, far higher plane than the likes of her and Ange, and have returned from the Realm of the Gods much like Featherine herself has, and as mentioned before, it is where they store any tales which they end up taking a liking to, and the whole realm itself comprises Featherine's personal collection of carefully-selected books.
So, given all of that, both Aurora's Study and the City of Books ought to be upgraded to 1-A, and, naturally, characters that manifest there should all scale. Given the circumstances surrounding the last stretch of Episode 8, pretty much all of the series' cast is getting an 1-A key as a result. Lambdadelta, Bernkastel and Featherine are also losing their 1-B keys, given that.
About the Voyagers
As of now, Voyager Witches like Bernkastel and Lambdadelta have additional keys for their Abstract Forms that exist apart from their physical manifestations, and are Low 1-A due to being universal laws of the setting that pervade throughout the whole Sea of Fragments and passively influence the inner workings of the world and all beings living in it. If the City of Books and Featherine's Study are to be upgraded to 1-A, then, the Voyagers' True Forms ought to be 1-A+ by virtue of scaling to the entirety of the Third Domain where Featherine resides. Now, the reason behind this will require a bit more explanation, so, bear with me.
To make a long story short: A main component of When They Cry's cosmology, featured most prominently in Higurashi, is the idea that the currents of fate are decided and shaped solely by an individual with a strong willpower, and that an unbreakable conviction can solidify destiny and allow whoever holds it to impose their own scenarios over the world, which are always guaranteed to occur with absolute certainty: Basically the concept of "Hard work pays off in the end" idealized as a fundamental law of the world.
Fast-forward to Umineko, and we have Lambdadelta being described as a physical embodiment of this law, with her title as the Witch of Certainty existing as a reflection of that. The connection is reinforced both by her character profile in Episode 4 and by Tsubasa, both of which state that her magic revolves around "an absolute force of willpower" that surpasses even Endless Magic, which is very much a reference to the aforementioned theme from Higurashi.
As mentioned before, the concept which she embodies spans throughout the entire Sea of Fragments, as shown by how, in spite of there being infinite worlds and possibilities floating around in the ocean of nothingness, Lambdadelta's power as the Witch of Certainty still ensured that there was no world where Lion Ushiromiya survived the events of October 1986. But most importantly, it could also influence events and individuals in the City of Books even after her death, and it was the reason Battler could stand up to Bernkastel in spite of being completely outmatched as a witch of a far lower ranking.
This implies the Voyagers' abstract concepts extend throughout not only the Witch Domain, but the higher domain above it as well, as their all-pervading nature is the reason for why they are in a constant state of evolution throughout the stairway to the domain of the gods, unlike Territory Lords such as Beatrice, whose nature is that of a personification of the rules of their own gameboard, thus making them unable to leave their universe or travel through the Sea of Fragments without outside help, which is something even Angels such as Willard and Dlanor are capable of doing, since they are independent existences that are not tied to the concepts of any particular world.
So, as mentioned previously, their abstract forms will be upgraded to 1-A+ as a result of that.
Miscellaneous
So, as mentioned in the original upgrade thread, Featherine, too, is heavily implied to have an abstract form just like the other Voyagers, and as it stands, it is rated at High 1-A, with The Creator being "0" by scaling to it. However, the tier itself was left as a "possibly" due to how vague Featherine's true form and its relationship to the domain of the gods is.
Needless to say, regardless of whether it is vague or not, there is absolutely no reason for a "possibly" to be there, considering that the domain of the creators is very explicitly defined as the final endpoint of the entire cosmology, and is only reached once an entity abandons all of the existential limits and restrictions which constrain their existence to a lower plane. In the context of the series, the realm itself is also beyond any notions of hierarchies, since layers of existence only exist as consequences of the number of limitations that an entity has imposed upon themselves. Given all of that, a solid 0 is more than justified.
Oh, yeah, there is also the fact that a few characters are missing Low 1-C ratings, namely Ronove and Gaap, as they are capable of manifesting in the same plane of existence as other characters with this rating on their profiles, some of whom are canonically weaker than them, in fact.
Introduction
So, currently, both Featherine's Study and the City of Books are rated at 1-B for being the highest showcased realms in the series, and likewise transcending the entire story of Umineko, with the latter in particular containing a whole bunch of books and stories that are much larger than Beatrice's Territory, and being a general repository for Voyager Witches to store kakera which they stumble upon in their travels across the Sea of Fragments, which often last for thousands of years and involve a continuous process of evolution throughout the Stairway to the Domain of the Gods.
But, as it turns, these two may be much higher in the hierarchy than previously thought. As has been already established, it's been implied a few times in the series that there is in fact a realm of existence in-between the World of the Witches and the Domain of the Creator, this being the plane of existence in which Featherine took residence after returning from the latter. This realm is also the level to which Beatrice internally evolved upon her ascension as a Witch, and Bernkastel states that she is still undergoing a process of ascension throughout this domain, and will eventually reach Featherine's level.
Given this scan, there is reason to believe that Featherine's Study actually exists in the higher domain where she resides, which does make sense: It's her house, after all, and as far as we are concerned, the Featherine that appears there is not a projection or a manifestation.
The City of Books, likewise, is shown to be in the same territory as Featherine's Study, and is described in very similar terms to it. Erika states the place is the territory of Witches who exist on a far, far higher plane than the likes of her and Ange, and have returned from the Realm of the Gods much like Featherine herself has, and as mentioned before, it is where they store any tales which they end up taking a liking to, and the whole realm itself comprises Featherine's personal collection of carefully-selected books.
So, given all of that, both Aurora's Study and the City of Books ought to be upgraded to 1-A, and, naturally, characters that manifest there should all scale. Given the circumstances surrounding the last stretch of Episode 8, pretty much all of the series' cast is getting an 1-A key as a result. Lambdadelta, Bernkastel and Featherine are also losing their 1-B keys, given that.
About the Voyagers
As of now, Voyager Witches like Bernkastel and Lambdadelta have additional keys for their Abstract Forms that exist apart from their physical manifestations, and are Low 1-A due to being universal laws of the setting that pervade throughout the whole Sea of Fragments and passively influence the inner workings of the world and all beings living in it. If the City of Books and Featherine's Study are to be upgraded to 1-A, then, the Voyagers' True Forms ought to be 1-A+ by virtue of scaling to the entirety of the Third Domain where Featherine resides. Now, the reason behind this will require a bit more explanation, so, bear with me.
To make a long story short: A main component of When They Cry's cosmology, featured most prominently in Higurashi, is the idea that the currents of fate are decided and shaped solely by an individual with a strong willpower, and that an unbreakable conviction can solidify destiny and allow whoever holds it to impose their own scenarios over the world, which are always guaranteed to occur with absolute certainty: Basically the concept of "Hard work pays off in the end" idealized as a fundamental law of the world.
Fast-forward to Umineko, and we have Lambdadelta being described as a physical embodiment of this law, with her title as the Witch of Certainty existing as a reflection of that. The connection is reinforced both by her character profile in Episode 4 and by Tsubasa, both of which state that her magic revolves around "an absolute force of willpower" that surpasses even Endless Magic, which is very much a reference to the aforementioned theme from Higurashi.
As mentioned before, the concept which she embodies spans throughout the entire Sea of Fragments, as shown by how, in spite of there being infinite worlds and possibilities floating around in the ocean of nothingness, Lambdadelta's power as the Witch of Certainty still ensured that there was no world where Lion Ushiromiya survived the events of October 1986. But most importantly, it could also influence events and individuals in the City of Books even after her death, and it was the reason Battler could stand up to Bernkastel in spite of being completely outmatched as a witch of a far lower ranking.
This implies the Voyagers' abstract concepts extend throughout not only the Witch Domain, but the higher domain above it as well, as their all-pervading nature is the reason for why they are in a constant state of evolution throughout the stairway to the domain of the gods, unlike Territory Lords such as Beatrice, whose nature is that of a personification of the rules of their own gameboard, thus making them unable to leave their universe or travel through the Sea of Fragments without outside help, which is something even Angels such as Willard and Dlanor are capable of doing, since they are independent existences that are not tied to the concepts of any particular world.
So, as mentioned previously, their abstract forms will be upgraded to 1-A+ as a result of that.
Miscellaneous
So, as mentioned in the original upgrade thread, Featherine, too, is heavily implied to have an abstract form just like the other Voyagers, and as it stands, it is rated at High 1-A, with The Creator being "0" by scaling to it. However, the tier itself was left as a "possibly" due to how vague Featherine's true form and its relationship to the domain of the gods is.
Needless to say, regardless of whether it is vague or not, there is absolutely no reason for a "possibly" to be there, considering that the domain of the creators is very explicitly defined as the final endpoint of the entire cosmology, and is only reached once an entity abandons all of the existential limits and restrictions which constrain their existence to a lower plane. In the context of the series, the realm itself is also beyond any notions of hierarchies, since layers of existence only exist as consequences of the number of limitations that an entity has imposed upon themselves. Given all of that, a solid 0 is more than justified.
Oh, yeah, there is also the fact that a few characters are missing Low 1-C ratings, namely Ronove and Gaap, as they are capable of manifesting in the same plane of existence as other characters with this rating on their profiles, some of whom are canonically weaker than them, in fact.
Last edited:
